Could stop next month

Despite a bill being signed in to law by Gov. Rick Snyder that ends the "home health care dues skim," money is still being collected from worker paychecks.

With May on the horizon, it is hoped "dues skim” will officially be brought to an end. Until then, the Michigan Capitol Confidential's skim-tracker will not be turned off.

Senate Bill 1018, aimed at stopping the dues flow was passed by the legislature in March and signed into law by Gov. Snyder earlier this month. It is presumed that certain administrative steps need to be taken before the dues will finally stop being taken from unsuspecting workers' paychecks.

A union scheme perpetrated while Jennifer Granholm was governor led to the “skim.” A dummy employer and a stealth election to force 43,000 so-called home health care workers into the Service Employees International Union were used to set up the "skim." That 43,000 eventually grew to include as many as 60,190.

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Once the forced unionization was achieved, money was extracted from the taxpayer-provided checks received by the so-called “home health care workers.” Most of those people were relatives and friends caring for homebound patients.

The “skim” has been going on for about six years and the SEIU has taken in more than $29 million. Since the bill was signed by Gov. Snyder on April 10, more than $215,000 has been taken from paychecks.

However, a recent disclosure report by the union indicates that count could actually be on the low side. Every dollar the union receives from the “skim” can be used for political purposes. It now seems likely that many of the dollars will go toward the SEIU effort to lock the “skim” permanently into Michigan's constitution through a ballot proposal.